---
title: Is a Manufacturing Engineering degree worth the debt?
cip: 1436
source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard — Field of Study (2026-06-10 release)
sourceId: src:doe:college-scorecard:field-of-study:2026-06-10
---

# Is a Manufacturing Engineering degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **15** colleges (15 of 15 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $65,857 ($67,300 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $21,323 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.35× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $62,658–$66,489 — the program you choose moves the number this much.


**How to read this:** these are MEDIANS across college programs, measured **1–2 years after completion** (early career, graduates only) — NOT lifetime earnings, and NOT comparable to a college's 10-years-after-entry figure. They cover **federally-aided completers at programs large enough to report**; small programs are suppressed. A field median is not a prediction of your outcome, not causal (who enters a field differs by field), and **not a "best majors" ranking** — earnings are one dimension of worth. Verify by field at the official College Scorecard (https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/).

## By degree level

| Level | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt | Debt/pay | Colleges | Programs reporting |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Bachelor's | $65,857 | $21,323 | 0.35× | 15 | 15/15 |
| Master's | $88,879 | — | — | 5 | 5/5 |

## Where a Bachelor's in this field reports the highest early-career pay

Reflects who enrolls and where, not causal program quality.

| College | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt |
| --- | --- | --- |
| California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo (CA) | $68,936 | — |
| Grand Valley State University (MI) | $68,319 | $24,250 |
| University of Wisconsin-Stout (WI) | $67,550 | $25,200 |
| Northwestern University (IL) | $66,553 | — |
| Western Washington University (WA) | $66,425 | $21,323 |
| Ferris State University (MI) | $66,348 | $16,052 |
| Miami University-Oxford (OH) | $65,905 | — |
| Brigham Young University (UT) | $65,857 | $11,000 |
| Dunwoody College of Technology (MN) | $65,552 | $27,974 |
| California State Polytechnic University-Pomona (CA) | $63,805 | $19,000 |
| North Dakota State University-Main Campus (ND) | $62,687 | — |
| Bradley University (IL) | $62,628 | $27,000 |
| Texas State University (TX) | $55,495 | $19,750 |
| Virginia State University (VA) | $53,571 | — |
| Robert Morris University (PA) | $53,432 | — |

RECORDED College Scorecard figures + one DERIVED ratio (debt-to-earnings). Informs and compares; not advice on what to major in. Each college's full record: `/education/<slug>`.

Structured data: `/education/fields/manufacturing-engineering.jsonld` · `/education/fields/manufacturing-engineering.json`